


By The Company You Keep

by sister_wolf



Category: DCU (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-07-20
Updated: 2005-07-20
Packaged: 2017-10-12 05:50:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/121509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sister_wolf/pseuds/sister_wolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It takes eight days for Bart to show up at the farm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	By The Company You Keep

**Author's Note:**

> Set after the reveal that Kon is the son of Lex & Clark and the mind controlled-breaking Tim's arm incident.

It takes eight days for Bart to show up at the farm.

Kon's brooding under a tree, about as far away from the house as he can get and still be on Kent property. A sudden gust of wind blows through the long grass, and suddenly Bart's standing in front of him, fidgeting.

Kon sighs. He really should have expected this.

"Did she give it to you? She said she did, but then you didn't call, and I thought the communicator might be broken, but Tim said to be patient and give you some time, and I did, I gave you over a week and that's plenty of time, right?"

"Bart, calm down," Kon says, standing up slowly. He's felt so tired, ever since... yeah. Ever since.

Bart clamps his mouth shut and fidgets in place, almost too quickly to see. Kon runs his hand over the short stubble on his head, sighing. "Bart, you should have listened to Tim." He feels a twinge deep inside his chest at the name-- god, he'd _broken_ Tim.

"You need more time? How much time? Two weeks? Two weeks is good. I can come back next Saturday." Bart's eyes widen earnestly.

Kon has a sudden flash of Bart with that same look on his face, in the Impulse costume, explaining his ridiculous plan to give Kon his powers back. He almost smiles at the memory, but... maybe the world would have been a better place if he'd never regained his powers. Then at least Luthor wouldn't have any use for him. "Bart, I think... I think I'm gonna need a lot more time than that. I might not come back at all. I don't know yet."

Bart stares at him for a few moments, his eyes narrowed in thought. Kon still isn't used to that-- Bart actually _thinking_ instead of just acting. The air blurs suddenly and Bart is gone.

He hadn't expected Bart to give up so easily. He thought he'd have to argue with him, and then Bart would get upset, and Kon would hug him and maybe give him a noogie, and then... everything would be the same. Except for the part where he can't ever go back to Titans Tower. Yeah. That.

Kon lies down on the cool grass under the tree, staring up at the little slivers of blue sky between its leaves. The summer air is hot, sticky, and heavy with the sound of some kind of insects-- grasshoppers?-- droning in the distance. He can't quite see the Kent family cows from where he is, but he knows they're out there. Cows, corn, and loneliness. This is his future. Until Luthor gets tired of looking for him, or they figure out some way to get the programming out of his head, or... Kon presses his hands against his closed eyes until he can see stars against the back of his eyelids.

"I'm back." Bart's voice comes from somewhere near his feet. Kon opens his eyes and blinks at him. Bart's hair is windblown enough that it's almost reached pre-Kid Flash levels of fluffyness. "Okay, this is what Tim says."

Kon has to close his eyes again. He can't believe that after everything he did-- trying to kill the team, betraying them to Luthor, _crushing Tim's arm_ \-- Tim is still giving him advice like nothing's changed.

Bart sounds like he's ticking points off on his fingers. "He says, a) You were mind-controlled and not responsible for your actions. b) I'm working on figuring out how to counter the mental programming. And c) It doesn't matter what Batman says." Bart pauses for a long moment. "And Kon... we're still your friends."

Kon takes a deep, shuddering breath. He's pretty sure he'd be fighting back tears, if it weren't for the fact that his tear ducts are all fucked up now. Keeping his eyes shut tight, fists clenched by his sides, he concentrates on breathing deeply and evenly.

"Tim's a smart guy," Bart says in a suspiciously husky voice. "You should listen to him." There's a light thud as Bart sits down next to him. Bart slides his small, warm hand over one of Kon's, rubbing a thumb back and forth over his knuckles. "We're still your friends, Kon. No one blames you."

"How can you not--"

"Because it _wasn't your fault._ " Bart pokes a finger against Kon's sternum. "Open your eyes, dammit."

Bart never swears. Kon takes another deep breath and opens his eyes. Bart's smile looks a little watery around the edges, but it's still a smile, and that's more than Kon ever thought he'd deserve again, after what he did.

"Now, you listen to me," Bart says, poking Kon's chest to punctuate his words. "If I was gonna not forgive my friends every time one of them goes a little crazy and tries to kill me or destroy the world, pretty soon I wouldn't have any friends left. It wasn't your fault. We are still your friends. Do _(poke)_ you _(poke)_ understand? _(poke)_ "

Kon grabs Bart's hand. "Yes, I get it. You can stop poking me now."

"Okay then. Are you coming back to Titans Tower?" Bart asks, narrow eyed.

Kon sits up, bracing his arms on his drawn up knees. "Yeah, probably," he says, after a long pause. "But not immediately. I've got... things that I need to think about."

Bart nods. "Okay. But if you take too long, I'm gonna track you down again."

Kon squints at him. "Wait-- how the hell did you find me, anyway?"

Shrugging, Bart says, "I knew you lived on a farm, and I was pretty sure it was in the Midwest. I just checked every farm west of the Mississippi until I found you."

Kon shakes his head, almost laughing for the first time since... since everything happened. "Couldn't you have just asked Tim?" It still hurts to say his name, but-- maybe a little less.

"He wouldn't tell me. He said you needed more time."

"He was right-- I mean, I do need more time. But I'm glad you found me, anyway."

Bart smiles at him, one of his new smiles, calm and almost a little bit wise. "That's what friends do. Now gimme a hug, dammit."

Kon doesn't know how the hell he deserves friends like this, but he's certainly not going to argue with it. He wraps his arms around Bart's warm, slightly vibrating form, closes his eyes, and holds on.


End file.
